A HOSPITAL boss has admitted it needs to improve after a series of inspections by the Care Quality Commission.

The reports rated Broomfield Hospital as “requiring improvement” and detailed various findings during inspections by the commission in November, December, February and March.

They found the hospital’s emergency department and emergency assessment unit were inadequate, highlighting they had insufficient staffing and poor awareness and practice of infection prevention and control.

Of all services, only the hospital’s services for children and young people and critical care unit were rated good.

Paul Forden, chief executive of the hospital trust, said: “We recognise a number of services require improvement and we are rapidly undertaking the actions to achieve this.

“Taking into account feedback relating to our urgent and emergency services, we have already put in place significant investments to provide a better patient experience, including a new surgical emergency ward, a new paediatric area in our emergency department and, opening in May, five more patient treatment cubicles in the emergency department.

“The trust has seen a significant growth in demand from patients for our accident and emergency services and this service is under pressure to deliver the high quality of care we would expect to achieve.”

But the report also found services to be “caring” and highlighted several areas of outstanding practice, including the chaplaincy and services for bereaved families, pathways for breast reconstruction and hand therapy and local leadership and innovation in the intensive care unit.

Dr Ronan Fenton, Chief Medical Officer, said: "We are delighted that the CQC found our services to be “Caring” and the passion and dedication of our doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals has been recognised. 

"We are however mindful that a number of improvements will need to be made to ensure we improve to deliver better patient care for the future. 

"We recognise this is a continuous journey and we have seen a challenged emergency service in recent months with increasing numbers of patients needing our care which our teams are committed to deliver and to improve.”

The Trust will now work with the NHS Trust Development Authority, its Clinical Commissioning Group and local health economy partners to build a robust Quality Improvement Plan that will ensure timely delivery of the actions outlined in the CQC Quality Report and improve services and care for patients.